


Five Times Glimmer Was a Good Teacher

by datbootydiary



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power
Genre: 5+1 Things, Bow is such a mom, Cinnamon Roll, Clueless Adora, Dancing, Eventual Romance, F/F, First Kiss, Fluff, Glimmer Swears, Hair, Makeup, Painting, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-27
Updated: 2018-12-07
Packaged: 2019-09-01 06:32:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16759828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/datbootydiary/pseuds/datbootydiary
Summary: +the one time she wasn't





	1. Makeup

1.Makeup

“GLIMMER!!!”

Glimmer’s head shot up and she shouted as a hand suddenly dragged her through the door she was standing by.

“Good, no time to waste.”

The hand let go of her and she came to a halt. Glimmer’s jaw dropped as she looked up and was confronted with a room covered head to toe in various diagrams and models. Her head finally came level and she made the mistake of meeting Adora’s gaze. There was a manic glint in Adora’s eyes, her shoulders slightly heaving as she slammed her hands down on the desk she stood behind.

“I’ve been studying the invite,” Adora stated blankly, “advance prep will be key to success. I’ve divided the rules into base parts.” She whipped a pointer out of who-knows-where and gestured to the invite handing on the diagram behind her.

“Dance rules, etiquette rules, rules for greeting the hostess,” Adora cleared her throat, “I then broke down the ballroom into quadrants.”

Adora leaned on the desk, and Glimmer noticed the war map of the ballroom resting on it. Adora gestured with her pointer for Glimmer to take a seat on the pink beanbag beside the desk.

“And,” Adora continued, nudging a figurine on the war map over a bit, “I’m familiarizing myself with targets. Ask me anything.”

She passed Glimmer a stack of cards which she examined. Glimmer sighed, but cooperated.

“Princess Frosta.” Glimmer said.

“Ruler of the Kingdom of Snows,” Adora jumped on the question with no hesitation. “First time hosting the ball, biggest kingdom outside Bright Moon, neutral in the fight against the horde.”

Glimmer looked up to see Adora standing ramrod straight, arms bent behind her back, eyes closed in concentration.

“Allies with the Star Sisters, who are friends with Mermista,” she continued, gesturing to the diagram behind her, which Glimmer was starting to piece together was supposed to represent different kingdoms and alliances.

“But not Sweet Bee, who is dating Peekablue… as you can tell from the string,Up means friends, down means frenemies. And also I made an obstacle course.”

Adora lifted her diagram to reveal a room in absolute ruins. Glimmer sat for a moment, taking in the horror of Adora’s current state of mind.

“I’m feeling good! I’ve prepared for any and all possible scenarios. I am so ready for this Ball.”

“Great! What are you wearing?” Glimmer took the opportunity to interrupt her.  
Adora shrugged, “I was just gonna go as She-Ra. She has better hair.”

“Well, you can’t go as She-Ra.” Glimmer rose and reopened the invite Adora had closed at some point during her ‘fit’. “They have a strict no weapons rule. Neutral ground and all. You’ll have to leave your sword at the door.” She pulled out a hidden tab on the invite which read “No Weapons” in a fancy cursive script.

Adora groaned and held her fist to her head. “How are there more parts to this invite?”

Glimmer thought for a moment and gasped. “You know what this means?!”

“That clothes aren’t important and I should keep studying?” Adora suggested insightfully.

“IT’S MAKEOVER TIME!!!”  
_________________

And thus began Glimmer’s painstaking attempt to find a style that worked for Adora. She tried updo’s, downdo’s (which Adora vehemently protested), frilly dresses, short dresses, garish jewelry, no jewelry at all, and so on and so forth. While Glimmer suffered, Adora studied.

“Y’know,” Adora commented at one point, “It says here that dancing will be optional. But what does that mean? Is it really optional? Is it a trick? If I don’t dance will they kick me out, ban me from the ball, forcibly disband the Princess Alliance and hand me over to the horde in chains?”

Glimmer stood for a moment, staring at Adora.

“What… the… what are you talking about?”

“Glimmer what if I mess up this whole thing?” Adora worried, pacing back and forth under her makeshift battle tent, “I- I don’t know how to do all these Princess things. I can study and study and study, but doing things like-like using the right utensils, or-or dancing, or-“

“Adora, that’s what I’m here for. I can help you with all of that. All this etiquette mumbo-jumbo is stuff you’ll get used to. I promise,” Glimmer walked toward Adora, setting a hand on her shoulder to stop her from pacing, “Okay. Here’s what we’ll do. I’m going to show you the secret to confidence. The key to feeling like a true woman. I am going to teach you how to do your makeup.”

“My… makeup?” Adora looked over her shoulder at Glimmer, grimacing.

“Yes, your makeup. Okay, okay, here, sit down by my window, I’ll grab my makeup, we’ll figure this out.”

“Um, okay. Yeah. Okay. If you say this is what we need to do, then I’ll do it.”

“Give me one sec. I’ll be right back.”

Glimmer rushed to her bathroom, ripped open her drawer, and pulled out her supplies. She rushed back to Adora, who had settled herself near the window.

“Okay Adora. Let’s do this.”

Glimmer went to take a seat facing Adora. She opened her bag and let Adora look inside.

“This is my stuff. My most valuable items. My life blood.” Glimmer said seriously, squinting her eyes at Adora. Adora’s eyes widened and she looked at the makeup with reverence.

Glimmer let Adora stare at it for a few more moments in silence before bursting into laughter. “I’m just messing with you Adora. You’re so serious!”

Adora leaned away from the makeup bag as though repulsed, then chuckled a little.

“Glimmer seriously. Just show me how to use this stuff.” Adora said with a slight grin.

“Okay okay, so I’m not gonna use all of it, cuz you’re so much paler than I am. I’m just gonna show you a little of the fun stuff. Your skin is so smooth and your cheekbones could kill a man, so I’m not going to worry about foundation or anything.”

Glimmer proceeded to explain the wonders of eyeshadow, eyeliner, and mascara to Adora, who seemed supremely unimpressed.

“And now for the main event, I am going to put this stuff on your face!” Glimmer exclaimed.

Adora took a deep breath and closed her eyes, shoving her face closer to Glimmer. Adora was determined. Prepared. Ready to learn. Waiting for Glimmer to start. Still waiting. Adora opened one eye to look at Glimmer. Whose face was much closer to her face than she was anticipating. Whose face was very very red, and who was definitely trying very hard to hold in her laughter.

“A-Adora” Glimmer snorted a little, “what are you doing? What is that face you’re making oh my goooood, “ Glimmer bust out laughing.

“I was waiting for you to put makeup on me.”

“You need to wash your face first Adora. I’m not putting my beautiful brushes all over your dirty skin.”

“Oh. Right.” Adora rushed to rinse off her face, dried it, and came back over to Glimmer, who had set her bag aside and had a few items placed in front of her.

“Okay Adora we can start now. Sit down. Okay, close your eyes. No, don’t scrunch up your face. No, just relax it. Okay, so I’m going to put some primer on your eyes no okay? So the makeup stays in place. HEY! Don’t flinch. I’m not gonna poke your eyes out I promise. Now I’m going to put on the eyeshadow. I’m gonna take a few different shades of pink and purple. The darkest goes on and above the crease, the second darkest goes on your entire lid, but not above the crease, and the lightest goes on your inner lid. We’re going to apply it from lightest to darkest. This is literally the simplest way to apply it. Not necessarily the best or everybody’s favorite, but the simplest. Now I’m going to blend it. okay, now open your eyes for a second. I’m gonna put a little glitter on your inner corner for funsies! Okay now comes the eeeeeyeliner. You have to hold so so still for this Adora. Okay I’m gonna use liquid liner just cuz that’s what I like. I’ll start at the inner corner and sweep it across. It takes A LOT of practice to get good at this so don’t get mad if you mess it up the first time you try it. And I’m gonna wing it a little. Just a little tiny itsy bitsy baby wing for the itsy bitsy eight foot tall princess. Okay Adora you can open your eyes I’m gonna do mascara now.”

Adora opened her eyes. Glimmer was looking away from her, reaching for the mascara, and Adora couldn’t help but notice the *ahem* glimmer in Glimmer’s eyes. Adora felt her face get just a little warm. Glimmer held up the mascara wand and gently set her hand on Adora’s cheek.

“All right Adora, hold still. You’re gonna have to do what I say. Widen your eyes a bit and look up.” Adora did so and Glimmer swept the wand across her upper lashes and Adora flinched.

“Hey hey, you’re doing great Adora, but you can’t flinch like that. I’m not gonna poke your eye out. Let try again. Look up for me.”

Adora looked up. Glimmer tried again and Adora refrained from flinching too badly. Glimmer did this a few more times before telling Adora to look down to do the bottom lashes. Adora couldn’t help but notice the way Glimmer stuck her tongue out just a little while she was focusing so hard. Glimmer’s nose was scrunched just a little too. It was adorable.

Glimmer pulled away from Adora to put the mascara away. She sat back for a second and examined Adora. Suddenly Glimmer’s face bust into a huge smile. She leaned forward and grabbed Adora’s face, putting their foreheads together.

“You. Look. AMAZING!!!” Glimmer shouted. She stood up and dragged Adora to her mirror. “Look! Just look! I am an ARTIST. A GENIUS. I’m amazing. Bow. Bow has to see this.” Glimmer rushed to the door and opened it. “BOW!” She screeched. “BOW COME SEE COME SEE COME SEE.”

Adora examined herself in the mirror. Her eyes did look a bit wider. Her eyelashes looked longer. And the eyeliner was… interesting. She couldn’t help but grimace a little.

Glimmer closed the door and rushed back to Adora to look at her artwork, but noticed the model wasn’t as happy with the results as she was.

“You good Adora? Is the mascara bugging you? It can be a little sticky I know-“

“No no Glimmer it’s fine. It looks fantastic! I just- I mean- It doesn’t really look like- I dunno. I mean, you worked so hard on it and I don’t want you to think it’s bad but-“  
Glimmer cut her off.

“I don’t feel bad Adora. I totally get it. Makeup isn’t for everyone. What matters is that you gave it a shot right?”

Adora looked at herself in the mirror again.

“Yeah. Yeah. I gave it a shot.”

“Aaaaand now you know that you don’t like makeup. It’s not like you need it anyway. You’re, like, gorgeous without it. Buuuut I still need Bow to see it before I let you wash it off.”

Adora looked at herself in the mirror one last time. She took a deep breath before turning to Glimmer and locking her in a hug.

“Thanks Glimmer.” Adora murmered.

Glimmer immediately returned the hug.

“Anytime Adora. Besides, it was a nice break from studying.”

They both pulled back from the hug, smiling.

The door burst open, Bow standing hunched over and panting.

“Oh *gasp* god *gasp* glimmer *gasp* who *gasp* died?”

“The patriarchy,” Glimmer immediately responded.

Bow raised his hand to his face and sat down, exasperated.

“Glimmer, there has literally never been a patriarchy in Bright Moon what are you talking about?”

Glimmer shrugged and passed Adora her makeup wipes.


	2. Dancing

2\. Dancing

“Show me what you got Adora.” Bow demanded.

Adora nodded and took a shaky breath. She walked toward Bow and held up her hand. Bow met her hand with his and started counting.

“1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4-1-2 okay stop Adora.”

“What? Did I miss something?”

“No, it’s just- you’re a little stiff.”

Glimmer commented confusedly from her place against the wall, “Yeah, Adora, this isn’t a drill. It’s just…dancing!” 

“Well, excuse me but I’ve never danced before. It all feels so forced to me. Like, I know how it goes, and I know the timing and everything, but it just feels… stilted I guess?” 

“It seems like you’re not having fun,” Bow commented, folding his arms and taking a step back.

“Well how am I supposed to have fun if I’m focused on not messing it up? It’s a little stressful. If I mess up one move I could throw off the whole timing and embarrass myself.”

“Adora,” Glimmer sighed, “You just need to let loose. Dancing can be fun if you just relax. No one will notice if you mess up a little.”

“I guess. Yeah. You’re right,” Adora threw her fist up in the air, filled with determination, “I’m gonna relax! Let’s try this again Bow!”

Bow readied himself and raised his hand. Adore met him.

“1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4-1-2-ouch-4-1-2-3-4-1-2-sorry-4-1-2-3-4-1-2-3-the dip is coming up Adora you ready?-1-2-3-and-……okay Adora, I was going to dip you, but instead we both tried to dip each other and now we’re just standing here, holding onto each others’ backs, trying to dip each other.”

“How-how do you know who’s supposed to dip who?”

“I…guess you just feel the vibe?”

“The…vibe?”

“Yeah.”

“Oooooookay you two can let go of each other now. Something isn’t working here.” Glimmer interrupted, walking up to the two of them and gently pushing them apart. “Maaaybe Adora just needs a demonstration?” She suggested.

“Sure!” Bow smiled, giving the girls a thumbs-up.

Glimmer turned to Adora with a broad smile, “Bow and I have done this dance together for years. We’ve got it down pat. You ready Bow?”

“You know it!”

Adora turned and walked over to the wall, leaning against it. Bow and Glimmer started dancing. They didn’t have to count or say anything to each other before starting. Adora watched as Bow lifted Glimmer, and Glimmer dipped Bow. They chatted the whole time they were dancing, and when it was over, they broke away laughing. 

“See how it’s done Adora?” Glimmer asked, smiling.

“I…guess. I’ll give it a shot!” 

“Sounds good. Hey Bow, how about I give you a water break and I’ll trying taking a turn with Adora?”

“Okie dokie I’ll be back in a few then. Don’t miss me too much!”

“We won’t!” Glimmer called back as Bow left the room.

The sound of the door closing filled the air and Glimmer glanced at Adora. She seemed lost in thought.

“What’s on your mind Adora?”

Adora shook her head and seemed to come out of it.

“Nothing. I was just thinking.”

“…about?”

“I guess… how do you actually let loose? You and Bow were so relaxed while you were dancing. Does that just come with a ton of experience? Or… I don’t know.”

Glimmer thought for a second.

“Mmm… no. It doesn’t just come from experience. I went to a couple Princess Balls without Bow before we were best friends. I did fine dancing, but it just wasn’t that fun. I think… Here. I have an idea. I want you to close your eyes while we dance okay? Don’t look at your feet, don’t look at me. I’ll turn on some music and we’ll just give it a shot, okay?”

“Okay.”

Glimmer walked over to turn on some music. She turned back around to Adora and saw that she had already clenched her eyes shut and positioned her hand in the air. She looked like a beautiful, tall, blonde statue, Glimmer thought. 

“Adora…” Glimmer chuckled a little and walked over to Adora, “You’re such a good sport.”

Glimmer lifted her hand and met Adora’s. 

“I’ll count to four, then we’ll start okay?”

Adora nodded her head, face readied like a soldier.

“Look at me Adora.”

Adora opened her eyes and looked at Glimmer, who stood, hand to hand with her friend, and smiled.

“Relax,” Glimmer winked.

Adora looked into Glimmer’s eyes for a few more moments before nodding, taking a deep breath, and relaxing her shoulders. She closed her eyes.

“Ready? And 1-2-3-4…”

The two of them started dancing. Adora stumbled a bit at first, but Glimmer quickly assured her she was doing fine. 

“What’s your favorite color Adora?”

“My favorite- why?”

“Just cuz.”

“I think… it was Red for the longest time. But ever since leaving the horde, I think I was surrounded by too much of it for too long.”

“You look great in it though so I guess you lucked out with what color you were forced to wear. It could have been mud brown, or a slimy green. Or maybe, like… I don’t know I don’t really dislike any colors. I mean, maybe if I left Bright Moon on the same terms you left the Horde, I might hate purple. Which would suck cuz I love purple.”

“That one.”

“What?”

“Purple,” Adora said, opening her eyes and meeting Glimmer’s gaze, “I think that’s my new favorite color.”

Glimmer blushed, then laughed, then blushed harder. And before she new it, Adora had lowered her into a dip.

They both just stayed there for a moment. Glimmer smiled, and Adora smiled, and Bow smiled and started clapping.

“Beautiful Adora,” he cried, wiping away a fake tear, “you look like you’ve been dancing since the womb, but you definitely forgot the part where you let Glimmer stand up again.”

“Oh! Right, sorry haha” Adora rushed to let go of Glimmer, but forgot to set her back on her feet. Glimmer crashed to the ground. “OH GOD GLIMMER I am so sorry I-“

Glimmer laughed and stood, rubbing her head.

“It’s all good. I was, what, a foot off the ground? You must be ripped to be able to dip someone that low, Adora.” 

Bow walked toward them and patted Adora on the back.

“Let’s see if you can do it again Adora! It’s my turn!” 

Adora smiled and fist-bumped Bow. 

“Let’s do it!”

The Best Friend Squad spent the next two hours drilling how to have fun into Adora’s head. Adora could, without a doubt, say it was one of the best two hours of her life.

__________

Adora’s next time dancing with Glimmer wasn’t such a happy occasion.


	3. Painting

3\. Painting

“I am literally in love with Swift Wing.”

“Glimmer, I think that’s illegal.”

“Oh my gosh shut up, Bow.”

The team had rightly deserved some vacation time, and Glimmer would be damned if she didn’t make the most of it. Laying in the soft grass watching Adora brush Swift Wing’s mane (whichlookedalmostassoftasShe-Ra’shairdon’tquoteheronthat), Glimmer was suddenly inspired. She stood quickly.

“I know what we’re doing!” She exclaimed.

“Did you… not know before?” Bow asked concernedly, “Adora I think Glimmer might be concussed! Glimmer, what’s your name? Do you know what day it is? Who’s the president?”

“Shut. Up Bow! You’re the one that’s confused. We live in a monarchy! I meant, I know what we’re doing next.”

From her spot by Swift Wing, Adora stood, gave Swift Wing a small kiss on the top of his head—which he neighed indignantly at—, and walked toward Glimmer.

“Weeee are going to paint a mural of Swift Wing in my room!”

“Glimmer,” Bow started, “I think you’re forgetting that we are both really, really awful artists.”

“What’s a mural?” Adora asked.

“What’s a mural?! Adora was there literally no art in the Fright Zone?” Bow asked.

Adora met his despairing look with a blank stare.

“Of course there wasn’t,” Bow said, rubbing his temples. 

“I’m going to teach you what a mural is! You two go to my room and clear all the furniture away from the southeast wall. I’m gonna go get some paint!” Glimmer squealed excitedly and teleported away. Adora and Bow looked at each other, shrugged, and started toward Glimmer’s room. 

______________

“Where do we even start?” Bow asked, looking at the blank wall.

“By painting a horse! Then we can add all of Swift Wings charms. And wings. And his horn.” Glimmer said.

“I guess. We can make it work!” Bow said determinedly. 

Bow took to the wall with his paintbrush and started the messy outline of a horse. Glimmer reached for the white paint, ready to start in on the fun, but noticed Adora staring contemplatively at her large, flat paintbrush.

“What’s up Adora? Don’t know where to start? You could probably just work on filling in the outline Bow started,” Glimmer said, hoping to give the blonde a place to start.

“Well I’ve-I’ve actually never painted anything before. I mean, it makes sense how it works. You dip the paintbrush in the paint, then you paint with it, then you wash the color off the paintbrush and start with the next color.”

“It’s super easy. I still can’t believe you never painted when you were a kid. Did they let you draw at least? Use crayons? Side-walk chalk?”

“Oh they let me draw. Battle plans. Also, side-walk chalk?”

“Oooooh my god problem for next Saturday we’re not teaching you about painting and side-walk chalk on the same day. Adora, my new goal as your bonafide mentor in all things fun is to make you relive you childhood.”

“I think I’m okay. My childhood wasn’t-“

“No no not your literal childhood. I mean- you know what? Never mind. Okay, here’s the white paint. Just put it on your paintbrush and start filling in the places Bow has made a clear outline.”

“I can do that,” Adora confirmed. 

Adora dipped her paintbrush and moved forward toward the wall. Glimmer watched as she slowly, tenderly, moved the paintbrush toward the wall. She touched the tip of the paintbrush to the wall, gently, as though it might break. She held it in one place for a moment, eyebrows furrowed together.

Glimmer then watched as Adora seemed to lose all her hesitation and mashed the bristles flat against the wall.

“Nope! Stop! Nice try Adora! Let me- gah. Let me elaborate more. The bristles? They can break. Or get stuck in one position. That’s not quite something we want. Okay, lift you paintbrush up off the wall. Yeah, see Adora? See how ugly that paintbrush looks?”

Adora looked at her paintbrush, ashamed.

“Yeah. It looks pretty ugly.”

“Yeah I know, but that’s okay. Because it’s not too ugly to use. Bring it over here and I’ll try to fix the bristles for you.”

Adora handed the paintbrush to Glimmer who, with no regard for the paint still on the brush, took her fingers and straightened the bristles as best she could. Glimmer then passed the paintbrush back to Adora and picked up her own. 

“Do as I do Adora. We’re going to play follow the leader for a minute.”

“Follow the leader?”

“I’m not dealing with this right now. Bow! Put follow the leader on our agenda for the Saturday two weeks from now!”

“Yes ma’am!” Bow dutifully saluted, moving on from the body of the horse to its head.

“Okay Adora, you’re just going to do what I do. I will lead by example.”

“I can do that.”

Glimmer started by lifting up her paintbrush and gently gesturing to it, a slightly facetious smile on her face. Adora followed suit, lifting her paintbrush. Glimmer dipped her paintbrush into the white paint. Adora did the same. Glimmer gently set her paintbrush against the wall. Adora copied her. Glimmer slowly dragged the paintbrush across the wall. Adora did her best, which is the only thing Adora is capable of doing.

After leaving a long streak of paint against the wall, Glimmer stepped back.

“Beautiful!” She exclaimed. She turned to Adora and gave her a smile and a thumbs up, “See? Not too hard at all.”

Adora smiled back, “Yeah. Not hard at all.”

“Adora, your job for now is to keep filling the space in the lines with white paint. Just stay on the horse’s body for now. I gave you that kind of paintbrush because it’s easier to fill in space with. Bow has one that’s better for making pretty shapes with. Bow has a surprisingly good eye for detail.”

“Glimmer,“ Bow said reverently, “I think that is the nicest thing you’ve ever said about me.”

“Bow, I love you, but shut up.”

The team proceeded to paint more of the horse. Glimmer made the general outline of the tail. Bow finished the head, and moved to help Adora fill in the lines. They took a lunch break in the clearing with Swift Wing while they waited for the first layer of paint to dry. Glimmer spent her lunch studying Swift Wing closely, memorizing the colors of his mane and tail.

When the returned from lunch, Glimmer assigned Adora to painting the grass on the ground, after teaching her how to make some simple shaped that resembled grass. Glimmer colored Swift Wing’s tail and mane and Bow colored his horn and added details to his face. When Adora finished the grass, Glimmer assigned her to paint the sun. Adora painted a surprisingly beautiful yellow circle. 

After hours of grueling labor, the BFS(trademark) stepped away from the mural and looked at it with broad grins.

“That… is the ugliest horse I have ever seen.” Bow said bluntly.

The horse was somewhat misshapen. Bow did the best he could with no real stencil or outline. One of the legs was significantly shorter than the other, and the horse’s head wasn’t quite the right shape. The white paint covering the horse’s body was a bit splotchy and uneven. The colors of the rainbow of the horse’s hair ran together a bit, making small spots of brown in various places. 

Glimmer looked at the horse for a moment, feeling it was missing something. When she realized what it was, she gasped and ran out of the room.

Adora and Bow looked at each other, shrugged their shoulders, and sighed, which seemed to be becoming a common occurrence. When Glimmer returned twenty minutes later, it was with a large container of paint. She set it down, covered a large, flat paintbrush with it, and swiped it across the entire mural. It left a clear, slightly reflective streak across the painting. Adora and Bow stared for a moment.

Glimmer stopped and turned to them.

“Are you two gonna just stand there or are you going to help me?”

Adora and Bow looked at each other, shrugged their shoulders, and grabbed their paintbrushes. Within a couple minutes, the mural was covered in clear paint and they all stepped back. Glimmer closed her eyes and a small ball of light started forming in her hands. Bow and Adora took a couple cautious steps back. A few seconds late, Glimmer thrust her hands toward the wall and let loose a wave of glitter.

Glimmer walked to the opposite wall to take a look at their masterpiece. The horse was still ugly, but now it was sparkly and ugly. A huge improvement in Glimmer’s opinion. Glimmer felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to face Adora.

“It’s amazing Glimmer.” Adora said confidently.

“It’s still missing something though,” Bow said, holding up his paintbrush, which he had covered in blue paint. He slathered his hand in the paint and walked toward the mural, slamming it down by one of the horse’s front hooves. 

Glimmer rushed to do the same with pink paint, and Adora quickly caught on and copied them using purple paint. The three stepped back to examine their masterpiece one last time.

A feeling of utter contentment overcame the friends as they stared at the fruits of their labor. It was the ugliest effing horse any of them had ever seen, but it was composed of beautiful memories, which made the horse seem like the most majestic horse ever. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, and those eyes beheld the beauty of their friendship slapped onto one wall. 

“I love it.” Adora said, looking at the mural with shining eyes.

“Me too.” Glimmer added.

“Me three.” Bow concurred. 

The three stood in silence for a moment longer before Bow sighed and looked at his paint-covered hands.

“Can we wash our hands now? I’m hungry and I wanna go snag a snack.” Bow asked.

The girls nodded and they all went to go wash their hands off. Walking back to Gimmer’s room, Bow broke away.

“I’m gonna go grab something to eat I’ll be right back,” he said, waving at them as he walked out of the room and toward the kitchens.

The girls walked the rest of the way to Glimmer’s room, settling themselves on Glimmer’s window seat.

“I personally think the glitter was a moment of true genius,” Glimmer lilted.

Adora turned to her, laughing.

“You’re not wrong Glimmer. If there’s one thing that can distract from how ugly the horse it, it’s covering the horse in glitter.”

“I know.” Glimmer said, smiling and pressing her hands together in front of herself.

Adora looked at Glimmer for a moment. 

“Hey Glimmer, you’ve got a little paint on your,” Adora gestured to Glimmer’s left cheekbone, “Can I help you get it?”

“Yeah thanks,”

“No problem. I’ll just-“ Adora licked her thumb and rubbed it viciously against Glimmer’s cheek.

“Ouch-hey-Adora!”

“Sorry sorry I’ve almost got it off,” Adora insisted slowing her cleaning as the rest of the paint came off.

Adora looked from Glimmer’s cheek, clean of paint, to Glimmer’s eyes, the same shade of purple as Adora’s handprint resting on the wall. Glimmer stared into Adora’s eyes as Adora slowly started to lean back and lift her hand away from Glimmer’s cheek.

Without thinking, Glimmer set her hand on Adora’s holding it to her cheek. 

“Adora, I-“ Glimmer started, “I know that we’re really good friends. The best of friends. Right?”

“Yeah, best friends,” Adora murmured, eyes transfixed on Glimmer’s.

“Exactly, but Adora, I think I- I feel-“ Glimmer was cut of by the sound of her door slamming open and the feeling of Adora’s hand swiftly drawing away from her cheek.

“Hope you’re all hungry cuz I brought snacks!”

“WOW THANKS BOW I’M SUPER HUNGRY THANK YOU” Glimmer stood from the window seat and rushed to Bow, ripping the snack out of his hand and shoving it into her mouth, “AND NOW I AM SUPER THIRSTY SO I AM JUST GOING TO GO GET SOME WATER OKAY GOODBYE.”

Adora quickly stood and followed Glimmer out the door.

“I am also thirsty so I am going to go follow Glimmer. Thanks for the snacks Bow. Do you want any water while we’re at it?”

“Nah I’m good thanks though.”

“Anytime,” Adora saluted Bow and quickly followed Glimmer.

“Glimmer! Wait up!” Adora called, jogging after her. “Glimmer stop for a second.”

Glimmer came to a sudden stop and faced away from Adora.

“Glimmer, what were- what were you going to say back there?”

“Just that- I was just going to say that…” Glimmer paused for a moment, gritting her teeth and clenching her fists before turning to Adora with a painfully fake smile and a thumbs up, “I was just saying that I’m super happy that we’re such good friends and that I felt super hungry. Let’s go get some water.”

“Okay, yeah, okay. That sounds...yeah. Let’s go get some water.”

The girls walked quietly down the hall, Glimmer trying to fight back the redness in her cheeks and her eyes, and Adora folding her arms, angling herself away from Glimmer and finding herself oddly dissatisfied with Glimmer’s answer.


	4. Braiding

4\. Braiding

Glimmer had gotten used to waking up with Adora in her room. Sometimes Adora would be awake, perched on her window seat or in a beanbag, or just standing up, finding something to occupy her time. Other times Adora would be asleep, sometimes in the window seat, but mostly Glimmer would find Adora curled up at the end of her bed. Glimmer had gotten so used to it, in fact, that she had requested extra pillows and blankets be brought to her room.

One day, Glimmer remembered, she had “subtly” showed Adora where in her closet she stored the extra linens. Adora had been minding her own business when Glimmer said loudly, in a very staged voice: “Wow Adora, you look really cold. Here, if you ever are really cold I have SPARE BLANKETS on the TOP SHELF in my CLOSET.”

Adora had managed to take the hint, and on this particular morning, Glimmer woke to Adora sprawled out on her stomach at the foot of her bed, blanket wrapped around her, one arm hanging off the bed.

Glimmer sat up, rubbing her eyes and sleepily teleporting off her bed to the bathroom to take care of her morning routine. By the time She had finished in the bathroom and had headed to get dressed for the day, Adora had sleepily risen. 

“G’morning Glimmer,” Adora tiredly called down from Glimmer’s bed. 

“Morning Adora. You planning on getting up anytime soon?”

“Maybe,” Adora said, yawning, “I might just stay in bed.”

“Okay, well you have forty-five minutes to wake up and get ready. We’re supposed to meet my mom and Bow downstairs to discuss our next recruitment mission. Are you gonna want breakfast?”

“Mmmmm yeah I do. Okay. I’m gonna get up in three… two… one!” On one, Adora flipped onto her back and threw her torso up so she was sitting.

“Good job Adora! I knew you could do it!”

“Thanks Glimmer.”

Adora stood on the bed and stretched for a moment before taking the steps down from the bed. She walked to the drawer she had claimed as The Drawer of Adora’s Stuff and into the bathroom. Glimmer took that cue to finish getting ready for the day. She combed out her hair, attached her cape, and put on her shoes. 

Adora wandered out from the bathroom, ready and dressed for the day. Glimmer looked at Adora contemplatively.

“Adora?”

“Yeah?”

“Can I try braiding your hair?”

“Sure. What’s braiding?”

“I’m not going to pretend to be surprised that you don’t know what a braid is. Here, let me show you,” Glimmer grabbed her brush, sat down at her window seat, and gestured for Adora to come sit on the floor in front of her. With Adora in front of her, Glimmer gently tugged the hair tie out of Adora’s hair and started brushing it out. She heard Adora hum contentedly. Glimmer took her time to gently braid Adora’s hair, and by the time she was done, Adora seemed half asleep again.

“I’m done, Adora.”

“Hmmmm that’s great,” Adora slurred, turning her body to comfortably rest her head on Glimmer’s thighs.

“Adora, you can’t go back to sleep, we need to go grab breakfast,” Glimmer insisted gently.

Adora groaned, “Yeah I know, I know.”

Adora set her hands on Glimmer’s knees and hauled herself up, offering a hand to Glimmer and helping her off the bench. Adora slipped her shoes on and the two started down the hallway to the kitchens, hip to hip. 

________________

The team had decided that the next on their recruitment list would be the Star Sisters. Glimmer didn’t personally know the Star Sisters, and hadn’t ever been to their kingdom, so they had decided that their best bet was to ask Mermista, a well known friend of the Star Sisters, to take them to their kingdom and introduce them formally. 

The journey to Salineas had been swift and easy, and the team soon found themselves settled in Mermista’s castle. Mermista hadn’t been in the mood to travel that evening and had invited the Best Friend Squad to stay the night. Bow had immediately been snatched up by Sea Hawk, who had seemed a little desperate for some straightforward affection. Adora and Glimmer had decided to retire to bed for the evening.

Adora and Glimmer were lounging in Glimmer’s bed in their pajamas, waiting out the time until they felt ready to brush their teeth and go to sleep. Mermista had offered Adora her own separate room from Glimmer’s, but Glimmer, knowing Adora would just end up in her room anyway, had declined on Adora’s behalf. Glimmer had declared they were having a sleepover. They invited Mermista to join their sleepover but had gotten an “Uuuuuuuuuuuh I think I’m good…” from the princess. 

“And so at that point, Bow had three arrows left, I was nearly out of power, the tree had fallen down, and there were still seven spiders left. I thought we were for sure done for, but it all worked out fine.”

“How’d you guys get out of it?”

“Well, we called in reinforcements! My friend-“

“Your mom showed up, didn’t she?”

“Yeah my mom showed up.”

“You’re mom’s so cool.”  
Glimmer shot up from her position on her back and looked Adora dead in the eyes. 

“Take that back.”

“Your mom is so cool.”

Glimmer shoved Adora off the bed before laying back down, pouting. 

“You’re banned from the sleepover. Go brush your teeth and find somewhere else to sleep.”

Adora laughed and stood up.

“I’ll go brush my teeth, but then I’m coming back to bed and trying to get some sleep before tomorrow.”  
“Fine.”

Adora made her way to the connected bathroom and closed the door behind her. Approximately two seconds later the door slammed open and Adora ran for the bed, grabbing Glimmer’s shoulders. 

“GLIMMER,” Adora gasped, eyes wide and sparkling, “IS THIS A BRAID?”

“What?”

Adora lifted her hands off Glimmer and pointed to her head. 

“I. Love. It.” 

“I’m glad,” Glimmer laughed 

“How is- how is this possible? I didn’t realize hair did this.”

“Adora, Mermista was literally wearing her hair in a braid today.”

“I thought her hair just did that!”

“Oh my god.”

“Teach me how.”

“How to braid hair?”

“Yes! Please! I need to know.”

“Okay. It takes some practice, so you’ll struggle with it for a while, but once you do it a few times you should start to get better.”

“I can do it! I’m so excited! Glimmer, I literally only ever wear my hair in a ponytail. I never wear it down or in a braid. This is going to open whole new doors for me.”

“That’s the attitude! Okay so um… how do I want to teach you… Okay I’ve got it!” Glimmer ran out the door for a moment before coming back inside.

“Are we ready?”

“No, I just asked Mermista’s butler-guard-staffmember to grab us a few pieces of twine. I’m gonna go over the basic movements with you that way. You could braid my hair, but it would be a little more difficult since it’s short.”

A few minutes passed before they heard a knock on their door. Glimmer shot up, grabbed the twine from the butler, thanked him, and closed the door. She walked back over to Adora and sat down on the end of the bed. She tied the twine around the bed post, and motioned for Adora to join her. There was about a foot of twine to work with after tying it to the bed post.

“So Adora, you’re going to start by separating your hair into three equal sections. Now watch my hands, I’m going to go very slowly. I’ll explain as I go along, but a lot of it is muscle memory from braiding for so long. I’m going to take the piece on the right and bring it over the middle piece. They’re going to swap places. Now I’m going to do the same thing with the piece on the left with the new middle piece. And I’m basically going to do that over and over.”

Glimmer finished braiding the twine and Adora watched in wonder. 

“Do you get it sort of?”

“Sort of. Show me one more time.”

Glimmer showed her again without protest. 

“How’s that?”

“I think I’m ready to try.”

Glimmer unbraided the twine and switched spots with Adora. 

Adora grabbed the twine and started. She got started just fine, but after a moment realized she must have messed something small up.

“What did I do wrong?”

“I think you forgot which one you had just done and accidentally brought the right twine over twice in a row.”

“Okay, let me try again.”

“As many times as you need, Adora.”

Adora tried again, moving slowly and focusing on the twine. She managed to braid all the way down without messing up.

“Good job, Adora!” Glimmer exclaimed, clapping her hands together. “Do you want to try doing it on a bit of your hair now?”

“Yes please!”

“Turn around and I’ll take your braid out. For now you’re just going to do a braid on a bit of the hair in front so you can try using the mirror to help you.”

Adora did as Glimmer said. Glimmer slipped the hair tie off Adora’s braid and separated the hair gently, combing through it with her fingers. There were no mirrors in the guest room, so they both moved to the bathroom. Adora picked up a chunk of hair and separated it into three pieces. She braided the hair. It was very messy and she had accidentally let go of some hair along the way, but she had braided it nonetheless. 

“Adora, you did so good!”

Adora grimaced, “It’s… kind of messy.”

“It not just kind of messy. It’s super messy. But for your first try on real hair, you did super amazing. It’s way harder to braid hair than twine cuz your pieces of hair fall apart and can get tangled. And also, braiding using a mirror can make everything feel a little weird.”

“Yeah, I guess. Thanks Glimmer.”

“You’re welcome! Here is my challenge for you Adora: every morning we stay in a place with a working mirror, I want you to try braiding your hair before you put it in a pony. It’ll be really hard at first, but one day you’ll braid it and it’ll look so good you decide to keep it in your hair instead of changing back to your pony.”

“I accept your challenge.”

“Good. Now that we’re in here, let’s brush our teeth so we can go to bed.”

The girls proceeded to do so. They wandered back into the bedroom. Adora sat down on the bed, and just as Glimmer was about to lay down, she heard a knock on the door. Glimmer stood up to go see who it is. She opened the door and was tackled with a hug from Bow.

“Bow! What the heck-“

“Gliiiiimerrrrr! P-promise you’ll always be my friend!”

“Well duh Bow. Are you- are you crying? Oh my gosh what happened?”

Bow’s eyes were swollen tears were running down his face. 

“S-Sea Hawk loves her so much but she doesn’t want to be friends but he doesn’t have any friends but I said I’m his friend and he’s so sad but he just smiles Glimmer can we be his friends Glimmer it’s so sad I love you and I love Adora and I love our friends and Sea Hawk loves people but they’re so mean and don’t love him back Glimmer isn’t that sad?”

Glimmer tightened her grip on Bow.

“Oh Bow, you poor, overly sympathetic man child, I’ll always be your friend. And we’ll try to be better friends with Sea Hawk. We didn’t realize how he felt.”

“Th-thanks Glimmer. You’re the best friend ever.”

“No problem Bow. But if Sea Hawk gets too annoying, you’re the one that has to tell him to knock it off.”

“I can do that.”

“Then we can be friends with him.”

“Okay,” Bow seemed appeased, wiping his tears away and finally seeming to notice Adora, “What’s up Adora?”

Adora waved at him, “Not much, Bow. Are you okay?”

“I am now,” Bow said, standing and helping Glimmer up, “I told Sea Hawk I’d have a sleepover with him, so I have to go now. I’ll see you guys later. Love you!”

“Love you too! Bye Bow!” Glimmer called out as he jogged away.

“Bye guys!”

Once Bow had left, Glimmer closed the door again. She took a breath before turning out the lights and walking toward the bed. She laid down on one side of the bed, facing the wall, and Adora did the same on the other side of the bed. 

The room was quiet for a few minutes. Glimmer had just started to drift off when she heard Adora’s quiet, “Glimmer?”

“Mhm?”

Glimmer felt the bed shift as Adora turned toward her. Glimmer rolled over to face Adora.

“Thanks for teaching me how to braid tonight.”

“It was no trouble Adora.”

“Thanks for teaching me how to do… all this stuff.”

“What stuff?”

“You know, braiding, painting, being good. Being a good person, y’know? I just- I’m not gonna go all sob story and stuff, but I really appreciate you being so patient.”

“What are friends for?”

The room was quiet for another few moments.

“Hey Glimmer?”

“Mhm?”

“You and Bow say ‘I love you’ all the time. Is that… when did it… how do you know you love someone?”

Glimmer thought for a second before responding.

“I guess… I guess you know you love someone when they’re very special to you. You’d do anything for that person. You want that person to be safe, even if it means you’re not. You’d do anything to make that person happy, but the thing that would make you happiest would be being happy with that person.”

“I think- I think I love some people.”

“Good. Everybody needs to love somebody.”

“I think I love Swift Wind. I love Bow. And I think… Glimmer, does it make me a bad person to love someone who does bad things and know they’re doing bad things?”

“No it doesn’t. It just means you have a lot of room in you for love.”

“Okay. Hey Glimmer?”

“Mhm?”

“I love you.”

“I love you too, Adora.”

And so, with a blush on her face, Glimmer fell asleep, barely noticing Adora sleeping next to her, facing her, rather than at her feet.


	5. Swearing

5\. Swearing

If you’ve ever seen anything breathe, you know that it inhales, then it exhales. Duh. It’s a cycle. Sometimes breathing changes. When the thing breathing is stressed, it’s breaths become shallow and short. When it’s sleeping, the breaths are deep and even breaths from the stomach. When it’s swimming, it takes short, gasping breaths every time it comes above the water. 

On this particular day, Bright Moon was taking the type of breath one takes when they lean back in their chair after completing an essay, or a particularly ridiculous email to their supervisor. The kind where you throw your arms behind you, put your hands on the back of your head, close your eyes, and take a long, deep breath in, hold it for a few seconds, and release it in a twice as long exhale. You feel your chest tighten just slightly while holding your breath, and after exhaling you whisper a small ‘Jesus f*cking Christ’, stand up from your desk, walk to the closest nap-able surface, and collapse onto it in relief. The weight of the world feels lifted off your shoulders in that breath.

Bright Moon had just inhaled and tossed it’s hands into the air, and was now holding its breath. It’s chest had tightened in the best way, and everybody living there could feel the euphoria of relief. 

Glimmer and Bow lounged in the sunlight by Glimmer’s window, chatting in low voices about everything and nothing, reminiscing about times before they truly knew battle. Queen Angella dressed in one of her most inconspicuous outfits and planned to go out to the market with Spinnerella and Netossa, who had both come for a casual visit with their old friend. The people of Brightmoon went about their daily tasks, basking in the good weather and discussing when they think the next rainfall may come.

The scene was something out of a story book: lovely in every way. 

The castle was so quiet on this day that from her room, Glimmer could hear the staff milling about. There wasn’t much to do beside prepare dinner for the evening and finish polishing the floors in the throne room, so the staff seemed very relaxed. They would stop to chat, steal a snack from the kitchen, and resume their tasks. 

This sort of ‘you-could-hear-a-pin-drop’ day also meant that when Glimmer heard a very violent “FUCK” shouted from down the hall, she and Bow stood immediately and rushed out the door.

They had expected to find some sort of attack, or catastrophe, but instead they found Adora sprawled on the floor, a cracked marble stand and a shattered vase beside her.

“Are you okay Adora?” Glimmer asked, kneeling beside her and starting to help her up.

“Yeah I- ouch- fuck- I think I twisted my ankle.”

“How did you even trip on that? It was literally right next to the wall and these hallways are so wide.”

“I don’t know, I got lost in thought and it just happened I guess.”

“Okay, well, let’s get you somewhere you can sit down so Bow can wrap your ankle. He’s better at first-aid than I am.”

The two friends helped Adora to her feet and supported her as they moved her to Glimmer’s room. Adora was seated on a chair by her friends and Bow immediately fetched a clean, long cloth and began wrapping it in figure-eights around Adora’s foot and ankle. Meanwhile, Glimmer went to request one of the less busy staff members clean the mess Adora had accidentally made. 

Once her ankle was thoroughly wrapped Bow stood up, crossed his arms, and looked down at Adora with a grimace.

“Now that we’ve dealt with that, you and I need to have a serious talk Adora.”

“Listen, I’m really sorry about breaking that vase. If it was a family heirloom or something I know I can’t replace it, but I could do my best to make it up to everyone. I could learn how to make pottery and make a new one, or I could-” Adora fretted, worried that her friend seemed so upset.

“That’s not what I’m upset about. Where did you learn that word?”

“What- pottery?”

Bow touched his fingers to his forehead, his eyebrows furrowing. 

“No Adora. The…” Bow’s voice lowered to a whisper, “The ‘f’ word.”

“The… ‘f’ word?”

“Yeah. You know. The bad word you said in the hall.”

“I… didn’t know I said a bad word. And I’m still kind of confused about which word you’re talking about.”

“Adora! You’re really gonna make me say it, aren’t you?”

“That would be kinda helpful.”

“He’s talking about ‘fuck’ Adora. Where did you learn the word ‘fuck’?” Glimmer inserted herself into the conversation from her place behind Bow.

“Oh. I didn’t realize that was a bad word, sorry. I won’t say it anymore if it’s that upsetting,” Adora said to Bow.

“Okay, but Adora, what I really want to know is who corrupted my tiny ex-horde child and taught them such naughty words,” Bow said. 

“I guess… I just picked it up listening to people talk.”

“Adora. Tell. Me. Who. Did this. To you.”

“I think… I think I got that one from Glimmer?”

The room went silent and a chill passed through the air. Glimmer felt a chill run down her spine and started to walk slowly backward away from Bow, toward the door. As she backed away, the room seemed to dim, and Glimmer could practically imagine gray storm clouds gathering outside, could see and hear the crack and flash of lightning parting the sky, could see the rage simmering below Bow’s skin as he slowly turned around toward her. 

“Glimmer…” Bow growled through gritted teeth, “Adora’s small mind was one of the only pure things still left in this world. We got to teach her what side-walk chalk is. We painted THAT-“ he pointed toward the monstrous mural of Swift Wing on the wall “UGLY ASS HORSE TOGETHER. AND NOW YOU’VE RUINED THE ONE GOOD THING I HAD LEFT. Who do you think you are?”

“I’m… sorry? Bow, I can’t be the only one that’s taught her bad words. You’ve totally sworn in front of her before. I’m not the only one corrupting Adora.”

“Hey Bow?” Adora asked from behind him.

Bow turned around and as he looked upon his small sunshine child, the clouds cleared and the sun shined again.

“Yes Adora?” 

“I didn’t know that was a swear word, right? So how am I supposed to know what other words I've picked up are swear words?”

Bow thought about this conundrum. He then decided, “I will write a list of every swear Glimmer and I know, and you can circle all the ones you know from the list.”

“But wouldn’t that teach me more swears? The ones I didn’t already know on the list?”

Bow fell to his knees, on the verge of tears.

“You’re right. I don’t know how to find out how corrupted Glimmer has made you!”

Glimmer walked forward, placing her hand on Bow’s shoulder. 

“We could always just… face the swears as they come?” Glimmer gently suggested.

“I… guess. Adora, I’m sorry I couldn’t help you more.” 

“It’s okay, Bow. How about every time you guys hear a swear around me from now on, you can point it out so I know not to use it?”

“That’s brilliant Adora!”

“But I also I have another question.”

“Ask away.”

“Why is swearing bad?”

“It’s only bad when you do it, Adora.”

“I… don’t like that.”

“Why not?”

“It doesn’t seem very fair.”

“Life isn’t fair, Adora.” 

“What if I want to swear?”

“Banned. Not allowed. I will exile you from Bright Moon.”

“That isn’t something you can do, Bow.” Glimmer interjected.

“I’ll find a way.” Bow said, determinedly. 

“Glimmer, do you think it’s bad when I swear?”Adora asked, looking to Glimmer for logic.

“I don’t reallyyy-“ Glimmer saw Bow shoot her a look of death and nod his head menacingly at her,”yyyyes I think it’s very bad. Not allowed at all.”

“That’s bullshit.” Adora declared firmly.

_______________________

Bright Moon’s exhale that day was followed by less of a ‘Jesus f*cking Christ’, and more of a “GLIMMER!!!”


End file.
